The Sharks hit the road and battled the Fort McMurray Knights June 14 at Shell Place. It wasn’t the Knights alone who dealt the crushing 34-14 defeat to the Sharks, they had help from the referee.

“There was a couple of scrupulous calls, in game changing situations,” said head coach Kevin Tuhua.

The official referee was a no-show to the game and instead of wasting the trip the teams decided to play, and keep it official, after one of the Fort McMurray players offered to referee. Tuhua thinks the stand-in referee did a great job, but he admits there were a couple of calls that could have really made a difference.

Even without the referee situation Tuhua said the Knights would have been be a tough team to beat. They are an experienced team with big players and well-balanced skill wise.

“They ran hard all day, but my boys didn’t take a backward step. We just didn’t give up and it was fantastic,” said Tuhua. “We did everything we could to a certain degree.”

Tuhua has the team working on a more strategic game, one that plays to the team’s speed, but to play such a game he says the team needs to be more focused, stronger mentally. He also said the team is no slouch when it comes to size.

“Our tight five, we got a couple big boys in there, but everywhere else we’re kind of smallish,” said Tuhua.

He did commend both Mark Grenier and Ryan Scarborough for leading the team forward when the pressure was on, especially with the addition of four new members to the team, filling in for players out on injury, or unable to make it due to work.

Tuhua said he was confident about how the team is developing. They are young and are still understanding their strengths and weaknesses, but what weaknesses they have uncovered ­– they fix.

Up next the Sharks will take on the Strathcona Druids at Lynn Davies Rugby Park in Edmonton this Saturday at 2 p.m. They will then play Grand Prairie at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton on July 6 at 1:30 p.m.